An Ōpōtiki ecologist says dramatic dune erosion in recent weeks is part of a natural process, which he hopes to see repaired come summer.

Tim Senior said a huge amount of sand had been blown around and shifted by tides on both sides of the Ōpōtiki Harbour over the last few storms.

“Much sand has been blown up onto the newly constructed dune on the western side of the harbour, which is exactly what we expected to happen.

“On the eastern side, the wind was blowing sand from the beach up onto the entrance to the groyne.

“This is probably going to keep happening; the plants that we put in front of it are trapping sand, but they won’t trap it all. In a storm like we had, they won’t trap it all, so you get it piling up on the breakwater.

“On the western side, that’s less likely to happen because most of our really strong winds come from the northeast.

“But then, as far as the rest of the beach is concerned, from the Waiotahe Drifts to the Waiotahe River mouth, the foredune has been eaten away quite considerably – more than I have seen for many years.

“So, when you walk across the dune towards the beach, you’re faced with at least a metre-high kind of cliff. That again is just a feature of all the storms we have had recently in quick succession.

“What’s happening there, is a perfectly natural process of big waves coming further up the beach to eat away at the front of the dune. But when we get into more gentle weather in the summer, hopefully that sand will slowly start to be washed in again to replenish the foredune to what it was before.

“The pattern is that the big waves come in and strip the sand off the upper beach and deposit it just past where the waves are breaking. It is going in and out as part of a natural cycle.”

Mr Senior said sand dunes could be likened to a natural fencing system.

“They are a buffer between us and the sea – it’s vitally important to look after them, planting them with the right plants so they can do the job they are supposed to do.”